Gabriel's Decision
by thereasonitry
Summary: Gabriel wants Dean to groom his wings...fluff ensues. Set during season 5, after changing channels. First fan fiction! One-shot, but may become more if people like it.


Gabriel hadn't groomed his wings in a long time. After he left heaven, there was no one around he could ask, unless he wanted to give away his secret. But now there was.

That Winchester, Dean, had been able to figure out his secret. Funnily enough, he'd always pegged Sam as the smart one. But after Dean had made a complex plan like that...Gabriel had been keeping a closer eye on him.

He found the elder Winchester humorous to say the least. There had been lots of times when it was Dean's quick thinking that got the brother through a hunt. The majority, in fact. His sarcasm and wit were also entirely unmatched, and it cracked Gabriel up.

Basically, he'd completely underestimated the guy. He was feeling bad now for those digs at his intelligence, and he found himself slightly pissed at Sam, too.

The younger Winchester also severely underestimated his brother, only he'd been living with the man his entire life, so there was no excuse. Hell, Dean had practically raised the kid, as Gabriel soon found out, and all the things Sam thought or said about his brother were false.

But Gabriel really didn't have time to think about family dynamics. His wings felt incredibly uncomfortable, and he needed someone to groom them. NOW.

He checked to see where the Winchester's were currently. A motel, perfect. He flew quickly; appearing in the room a split second later. Only Dean was there, scanning a giant book that rested in his lap. Sam was nowhere to be found. Good.

Gabriel couldn't hold back a small smirk as Dean noticed he was there and jumped, the book falling to the floor with a thump. "What the hell, Gabriel!" Dean yelped as he shot to his feet, "you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry Deano," Gabriel said, abashed.

Suddenly drained, Dean slumped onto one of the motel beds and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, give a guy a warning next time. Okay, Gabe?"

Gabriel was torn between sympathy for Dean (the apocalypse was obviously wearing on him) and happiness that Dean had accepted him into 'Team Free Will,' because he'd given Gabriel a nickname. He knew from experience that dean only gave a nickname to angels he didn't think were dicks.

He decided to make sure that Dean got a good night's sleep after this, it was the least he could do.

"Okay Deano. But...I kind of need your help with something..." Dean tensed and raised an eyebrow at him. "What kind of something?" Gabriel backpedaled rapidly, "nothing bad, honest!" Dean sighed wearily, but relaxed. 'Well, what is it?"

Gabriel suddenly found the nasty motel carpeting very interesting. "I...I need you to groom my wings." Dean cocked his head to side slightly, deep in thought. A moment later his eyes were fixed on Gabriel. "Alright."

The archangel spluttered, "alright!?" Dean nodded and spoke slowly, as though talking to a child. "Yeah. Alright."

Gabriel let out a sigh of relief. It had been so long since he'd gotten his wings groomed. Sure, he could mostly do it himself, but there were always places that he couldn't reach that bugged him later. The last time someone had groomed his wings for him...he'd still been in heaven.

"Gabe? Are you with me, dude?" Gabriel was jerked back to the present by the sound of Dean's voice. "Oh, yeah, I'm good. Okay Deano, I'm gonna let my wings out now." Dean nodded, and suddenly the motel room was filled with three pairs of golden pillow stuffers.

"So...how do I do this exactly? I mean, I don't want to hurt you." Gabriel smiled slightly. "Deano, I'm touched, I really am. But you don't need to worry about hurting me. All you have to do is untangle the feathers and straighten any tilted or stuck out ones. You know, get them in line."

"I can do that." Gabriel nodded, and settled comfortably by Dean's feet. He crossed his legs Indian style and said, "whenever you're ready, Deano."

Dean surveyed the pile of wings in front of him, trying to determine the best place to start. He decided that he'd just start in the middle and work his way out towards the tips.

There was a bundle of tangled feathers near the heart of the wings, so Dean gently and carefully reached out and pulled the soft feathers apart. As he moved them back into place, any kinks they had smoothed out, leaving them looking like they should. It was kind of like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, one that actually had all of its pieces.  
As Dean worked out tangles of feathers in his wings, Gabriel slumped boneless against the elder Winchester; trusting him completely. God, how he'd missed this. This must have been the first time Dean had ever groomed wings, but he was the best groomer Gabriel had ever known. Seriously, how was he that good?

When the archangel had decided to ask Dean to groom his wings, he figured that Dean wouldn't be very good or efficient, and he'd have to fix the wings later, anyway. It had been a risk he was willing to take. But he never expected Dean to be this good. And oh Father, was this good.

Wings are the physical manifestation of an angel's grace, so they're extremely sensitive. If someone yanks on them, or, God forbid, pulls one off, it would be excruciatingly painful. It would take a powerful angelic healer of almost Raphael's stature to reattach an angel's wing, and having a wing reattached was even more painful than having it pulled off.

For an angel to let someone touch their wings, they would have to trust that individual with their life. Gabriel knew that he could trust Dean, which was why Dean was the one grooming his wings and not Sam.

Gabriel didn't even realize that he'd practically fallen asleep leaning against the human until he felt Dean shaking his shoulder and calling his name. "Gabe...Gabriel...Gabe!" Gabriel blinked the sleep like haze out of his eyes, and stretched out his wings, then settled them against his back. They felt fantastic.

Gabriel slowly stood up and faced Dean, who was smiling tiredly at him. His wings felt great and it was all thanks to Dean. He wondered how to go about thanking him...Gabriel lunged forward and flying tackled the startled man, knocking him onto his back on the bed.

"Dude, what the hell? Gabe, this isn't funny, get off me!" Dean struggled, thrashing and writhing underneath the archangel sitting smugly atop him. Gabriel smiled down at his captive, then brought his newly groomed wings back to their original positions. "Thank you Deano," Gabriel said sincerely. Dean flushed slightly, "no problem, man. Now will you get off?"

But Gabriel, the smug bastard, just started petting him, petting him. Then he said softly, "take a rest Dean, you've earned it," and Dean knew no more.

Gabriel got off of Dean and perched in a chair opposite the motel bed where the human lay. He fondly watched Dean's slow inhales and exhales, chasing off any nightmares to ensure his favorite human's sleep was undisturbed for the rest of the night.


End file.
